"We were lucky in that most of it came a few weeks before the show, so it didn't interfere with technical rehearsals," Kranich says. The worst of the weather hit in the middle of Bangor's process, and not when they were on stage, working out cues, costumes, sound and lighting.

Kranich says in most cases if school's in session and kids are sent home early, they can't rehearse.

"On some of the morning snows, they occasionally made exceptions for evening rehearsals when the roads were clear — but that didn't happen very often," Kranich says.

But all the delays and cancellations gave the cast and crew a "sense of urgency," Kranich says. The urgency paid off, earning Bangor 11 nominations, including a nod for Outstanding Overall Production of a Musical. The latter means the cast and crew get to don their costumes for one final performance on the State Theatre stage come awards night.

Barton says students got together on snow days to run their parts or practice vocals. And they started pulling Saturday rehearsals.

Deal with the hand you're dealt

For all the canceled practices and school delays, did the shows suffer? None of the directors interviewed seemed to think so.

Sal Ritz, producing director for Saucon Valley High School, says he thinks his cast and crew pulled off "The same show we would've done if we'd had the extra week back."

"We deal with what they're dealt," he says.

At Saucon Valley, Ritz says condensed six to eight week rehearsal periods are common. Saucon Valley starts rehearsing in January for a late February show while most others start in the fall.

With the snow, Ritz says his students put in the extra time, logging long Saturdays, late nights and even Sunday rehearsals to get the show done.

Ritz teaches them to think of their performance as a job.

Yuskauskas echoes that, saying this year became a very different learning experience. Yuskauskas told his students, "This time we need to turn to you to be professional actors, actresses, scenic painters ... the kids really rose to that challenge and exceeded it."